1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for executing processing in response to a user's instruction, an information processing method, and an information storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
The number of executable programs is limited due to the processing load on an information processing apparatus such as a computer. Conventionally, every time a user gives an instruction to activate a program, the operating system verifies whether or not necessary memory and other resources are available and actually activates the program only when the necessary resources are available, or unconditionally activates the program to cause freezing when the necessary resources are unavailable.
Further, in a multi-window graphic user interface (GUI), a tab browser, or the like, in order to use the screen efficiently, a plurality of display target images, which represent windows, tabs, or the like, are switched for display in response to a user's instruction. In such interface, there are cases where, in order to cause the user to realize the plurality of display target images as current switching targets, a symbol image corresponding to each of the display target images as the switching targets, such as a part of each of the display target images or a small image that represents each of the display target images, is displayed.
In the information processing apparatus described above, improved convenience is expected when it is possible to notify the user in advance of whether a further program is executable or how many more programs are executable. Further, in the case where the display target images are switched for display, when there are too many display target images as the switching targets, it is difficult for the user to realize the display target images as the switching targets. To address this problem, it is conceivable to limit the number of the display target images as the switching targets. In this case, improved convenience is expected when it is possible to notify the user in advance of whether a further display target image may be added to the switching targets or how many more display target images may be added to the switching targets.